59th Annual Philadelphia Folk Festival August 13-16, 2020

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Streaming on Demand: Philly Songwriters in the Round 9/1

PFS Presents Philly Songwriters in The Round 

Featuring: Aaron Nathans, Avi Wisnia, Brittany Ann Tranbaugh,

& Buddy Mondlock

      On Demand from: Thursday, September 1st, 2022
 

Experience a unique showcase of incredible songs, storytelling, collaboration, and community. Avi Wisnia & Aaron Nathans host a monthly concert in the round where 4 talented songwriters take turns performing an eclectic variety of songs. The artists reveal the stories behind their songs, while also speaking to the unique perspective that comes with having strong connections to the Philadelphia music scene.

About the Artists:
Aaron Nathans

Aaron Nathans’ mission is to write songs about things no one else has written about before. Like a song about male bonding between a guy and his barber. Or the onslaught of the outside world upon a new parent. Surely somebody’s written that song, right? Ok, find it.Aaron, who lives in the Philadelphia area, describes his songs as wild-mind, bittersweet acoustic music. He’s one of a million guitar-slinging singer songwriters, but you’ve never heard anyone quite like Aaron, with his warped sense of humor and off-kilter view of the world.His shows include humorous, meandering stories that will keep you every bit as captivated as the music itself — beautiful guitar work, catchy melodies, and his sweet baritone voice and eye-popping vocal range.Aaron’s songwriting was honored by the Kerrville Folk Festival, which named him a New Folk Finalist in 2018 and 2011.

“This is the songwriting creativity that I admire… Like many Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Tom Waits songs, these tunes can linger in your ears and follow you into bed where you will be looking up at the ceiling with your eyes closed in the dark, and the melodies still partying into your sleep.”
John ApiceNo Depression (review of “Crooked Fiddle.”)

 

“Aaron’s songs hit you in both the head and the heart.”
Nik Everett

 

Avi Wisnia

Avi Wisnia is an award-winning singer/songwriter, finding inspiration in 1950’s west-coast jazz, acoustic American folk, Brazilian bossa nova, and contemporary piano pop. Avi tours in support of his newest studio album, Catching Leaves, performing in prestigious venues around the world – from the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC to The Kennedy Center in DC to concert tours in Japan, Poland, and Brazil. In addition to being a performing songwriter, he has given a TED Talk and performed with The Moth storytellers and organizes the Philly Songwriters Circle.”Jazzy singer-songwriter Avi Wisnia has a Ben Folds-y way of weaving stories into his piano-driven songs.”– Time Out New York“Startlingly clever. Lyrically brilliant. Completely refreshing.”– Alyssa Rashbaum, music critic for SPIN, VIBE, and Rebel Spirit Music

Brittany Ann Tranbaugh
Brittany Ann Tranbaugh is an award-winning singer/songwriter based in Philadelphia, PA. Originally from the Lehigh Valley area in PA, she kicked off her music career as a teenager playing at Godfrey Daniels, one of the country’s only remaining bona fide folk listening rooms. She has since performed all over the US and Canada in theaters, living rooms, basements, bars, coffee shops, backyards, and on festival stages including Firefly and Philly Folk Fest. Accolades include a 2021 Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for her song “Kiss You” and finalist spots in the Gems in the Rough, Kerrville New Folk, LEAF NewSong, and Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists competitions. In April 2022, she debuted an EP entitled “Quarter Life Crisis Haircut,” her first official release in over a decade. In this new batch of memorable and thoughtfully crafted songs, she tackles a wide range of topics including her sixth grade queer awakening, an awkward run-in with an old acquaintance, and the impossibility of true folk music authenticity in this day and age. At times witty and sarcastic, at other times heartbreaking and raw, the EP undoubtedly showcases Tranbaugh’s finest work to date.
Buddy Mondlock
Buddy Mondlock writes songs. He does it so well that some great songwriters have recorded his songs on their own albums. Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, and Janis Ian, to name just a few. You mightʼve heard his song “The Kid” (recorded by David Wilcox, Peter, Paul and Mary and Cry, Cry, Cry) and maybe even sung it yourself around a campfire. He draws you into his world – where a single snowflake follows the trajectory of a relationship, where you get you pocket picked by a Roman cat, where you might swim over the edge of the world if youʼre not careful and where dreams that donʼt come true still count. Along with his concerts Buddy teaches songwriting workshops as well.In 2012 he was on staff at the Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson college in North Carolina teaching two intensive courses over a weekʼs time. And in 2013 Buddy returned once again to the Kerrville Folk Festival to perform and teach at the song school there.“Mondlock’s songs are like movies you want to see again. He starts with the
same world we all see and hear, but he transforms the sights and sounds into
revelations that delight and melodies that linger.”
Ed Morris – Billboard Magazine

“Buddy Mondlock represents the best of the new generation of singer/songwriters in folk music. His writing style is grounded in the traditions of the past, but has it’s heart in the present. He is one of my favorite writers.”
Nanci Griffith